Hitting creative empty is the worst. I'm so sorry - but also, thank you for making this newsletter about it, because we all face it...
I write a science newsletter, so I'd be failing my duties without pointing you towards what might be the greatest peer-reviewed science paper of all time, and also the world record-holder of the shortest academic article ever:
She's a canine cognition psychologist (best job title ever) and she got interested in how everyone else sees the world - and frustrated at how bored she was with her city block in NYC. So she started doing walks with "experts" who might teach her something new about it. And her first expert - is her toddler. She goes on a walk around the block with her 19-month-old son, paying super-close attention to what he's reacting to and how he seems to be seeing the same street she's mostly tuned out - and she uses that experience to learn how babies see the world.
It's one of those books that just fills you with interesting questions - the fun kind, not the "I should do this for business purposes" kind. It had a big effect on my creativity and the way I look for things when I'm out for a walk, so, with the hope it might influence you in the same way, I recommend it to you heartily.
Mike, thank you for pointing me to that academic article! It made me laugh. Brilliant.
Also, thank you for reminding me about "On Looking!" I read it a few years ago and loved it. Funny enough, I used to do "smell walks" with my dog, inspired by Horowitz's other work—letting him lead the way with each new turn in the road. I've been trying that with my toddler, but so far she only manages to point me to the neighborhood playground ;)
Ah, fantastic. :) I should have known you were way ahead of me with finding On Looking, since you love walking. And hooray for smell walks!
(I also think that adult smell-walks should be more of a thing that people do and write about, and just writing about smells generally. If someone started a newsletter called The Daily Smell, and they unpacked unusual aromas that they discovered in the world in all sorts of interesting ways, I'd sign up in a heartbeat.)
Oh yes, I've been there! The irony is, reading your newsletter this morning sparked an idea in me. I often struggle with feeling like my creativity doesn't matter and no one wants to read my dumb little ideas. But then I read what you write, which is a beautiful, elevated version of what I aspire to write and I feel inspired to keep going. So, thank you! New subscriber and so happy I found this place.
As I struggle for inspiration today, I have taken to reading and I find that others are feeling the same as me. May we all find inspiration soon! Thanks for sharing.
Wishing you time to replenish. I feel like I cycle to empty every few days and can rarely get full. I also know that spring migration is magnificent and tiring as well for me.
Magnificent and tiring. Yes! What a good way to put it. It feels like most everyone is struggling to get to full these days, doesn't it? I hope you find some time to replenish, too.
I've found that sometimes a creative block is caused by a "false positive", in the way that something outside of yourself is drawing your attention, that simply needs to be placed in it's appropriate spot. I completely stopped photography when I couldn't tolerate a private middle school. At that point, I needed to ask myself, what is being asked of me and why, and what am I willing to give. Reality would have it, that I would need to do what's comfortable for me to be myself. To break the mold, and keep my creativity alive. I'm just now picking up the camera again, and I promised myself to pay attention to the things that take my focus off of my creativity, and try to understand why. Thank you for your post today, I needed to write that out!!
Thanks for reminding me of Julia Cameron's book. I write about aging well and one of her books is entitled It's Never Too Late to Begin Again. . .Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. Guess I need to check that out again.
I hope the walk surprised and delighted you! I don't suffer so much from writer's block. I find that the ideas are always there and I can usually hash something out if I stare at the screen long enough or resort to writing an outline (which I normally don't like). But what I do suffer from is intermittent feelings of: what is this all for? I have so few readers. Who am I writing for? Will this ever go anywhere? And these feelings make me feel demotivated to write. And usually the only thing that combats this is hearing from my readers. Just a few days ago, I saw on Twitter that someone had tweeted me and said how much they enjoyed my newsletter. And that was such a joyful discovery on my part that it has dispelled these feelings of "what is this all for?" that had crept in these past weeks.
Oh, Val. Those feelings are so hard. Could you try writing solely for yourself? Like, writing what you want to read and hear? That way, the outside validation is a cherry on top—not the main goal. It's a subtle shift, but an important one.
Also, keep at it! With so many writing endeavors, especially in the crowded world of newsletters, consistency is key. You will see slow and steady progress, I promise! xo
Thanks so much Katie 🙂 that's good advice and I appreciate the encouragement! I'll keep at it. 💪 And that's a great way to think about writing: to write what I want to read. I'll see if I can make that mental shift so it gets easier!
Love this, especially the bit about ignoring the “should”s. I’m trying to eliminate those from my life so I’m less bogged down--but it’s a lot harder than it sounds. I hope the spark comes back soon!
Good luck rediscovering that spark. I’m 2 weeks into The Artist’s Way myself, doing it with a few of the dads in TNF community. It’s been enlightening to interrogate some of those thought processes and see the negative barriers hidden underneath.
Great newsletter. My writing's are different than yours but I can understand the writer's block. And your right that we have inspiration and available storylines everywhere. We just need to keep our eyes and ears open and soak it all up.
Hitting creative empty is the worst. I'm so sorry - but also, thank you for making this newsletter about it, because we all face it...
I write a science newsletter, so I'd be failing my duties without pointing you towards what might be the greatest peer-reviewed science paper of all time, and also the world record-holder of the shortest academic article ever:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1311997/?page=1
(Trust me, it's worth the click. And here's the Wikipedia entry on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unsuccessful_Self-Treatment_of_a_Case_of_%22Writer%E2%80%99s_Block%22)
And I have a suggestion, for maybe putting just a little something back in your tank:
Read the intro & first chapter of Alexandra Horowitz's "On Looking: Eleven Walks With Expert Eyes": https://alexandrahorowitz.net/On-Looking
She's a canine cognition psychologist (best job title ever) and she got interested in how everyone else sees the world - and frustrated at how bored she was with her city block in NYC. So she started doing walks with "experts" who might teach her something new about it. And her first expert - is her toddler. She goes on a walk around the block with her 19-month-old son, paying super-close attention to what he's reacting to and how he seems to be seeing the same street she's mostly tuned out - and she uses that experience to learn how babies see the world.
It's one of those books that just fills you with interesting questions - the fun kind, not the "I should do this for business purposes" kind. It had a big effect on my creativity and the way I look for things when I'm out for a walk, so, with the hope it might influence you in the same way, I recommend it to you heartily.
Here's Maria "Brain Pickings" Popova's (massive) article about it: https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/08/12/on-looking-eleven-walks-with-expert-eyes/
Mike, thank you for pointing me to that academic article! It made me laugh. Brilliant.
Also, thank you for reminding me about "On Looking!" I read it a few years ago and loved it. Funny enough, I used to do "smell walks" with my dog, inspired by Horowitz's other work—letting him lead the way with each new turn in the road. I've been trying that with my toddler, but so far she only manages to point me to the neighborhood playground ;)
Ah, fantastic. :) I should have known you were way ahead of me with finding On Looking, since you love walking. And hooray for smell walks!
(I also think that adult smell-walks should be more of a thing that people do and write about, and just writing about smells generally. If someone started a newsletter called The Daily Smell, and they unpacked unusual aromas that they discovered in the world in all sorts of interesting ways, I'd sign up in a heartbeat.)
Thanks for these Mike! That first link is hilarious.
Oh yes, I've been there! The irony is, reading your newsletter this morning sparked an idea in me. I often struggle with feeling like my creativity doesn't matter and no one wants to read my dumb little ideas. But then I read what you write, which is a beautiful, elevated version of what I aspire to write and I feel inspired to keep going. So, thank you! New subscriber and so happy I found this place.
Oh my gosh, I love that, Elizabeth. Thank you!
As I struggle for inspiration today, I have taken to reading and I find that others are feeling the same as me. May we all find inspiration soon! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Aleisha! I hope you refill your creative well soon.
Wishing you time to replenish. I feel like I cycle to empty every few days and can rarely get full. I also know that spring migration is magnificent and tiring as well for me.
Magnificent and tiring. Yes! What a good way to put it. It feels like most everyone is struggling to get to full these days, doesn't it? I hope you find some time to replenish, too.
I've found that sometimes a creative block is caused by a "false positive", in the way that something outside of yourself is drawing your attention, that simply needs to be placed in it's appropriate spot. I completely stopped photography when I couldn't tolerate a private middle school. At that point, I needed to ask myself, what is being asked of me and why, and what am I willing to give. Reality would have it, that I would need to do what's comfortable for me to be myself. To break the mold, and keep my creativity alive. I'm just now picking up the camera again, and I promised myself to pay attention to the things that take my focus off of my creativity, and try to understand why. Thank you for your post today, I needed to write that out!!
What a good way to reframe it. Thanks, Brandon! I'm glad you wrote that out and shared it!!
Thanks for reminding me of Julia Cameron's book. I write about aging well and one of her books is entitled It's Never Too Late to Begin Again. . .Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. Guess I need to check that out again.
Oh, that sounds like another wonderful book to explore.
This is so lovely, so real, so encouraging. And I too have found inspiration for my own writing from your sharing of the dry well moments! Thank you.
Thank YOU! I'm so glad to hear that.
I hope the walk surprised and delighted you! I don't suffer so much from writer's block. I find that the ideas are always there and I can usually hash something out if I stare at the screen long enough or resort to writing an outline (which I normally don't like). But what I do suffer from is intermittent feelings of: what is this all for? I have so few readers. Who am I writing for? Will this ever go anywhere? And these feelings make me feel demotivated to write. And usually the only thing that combats this is hearing from my readers. Just a few days ago, I saw on Twitter that someone had tweeted me and said how much they enjoyed my newsletter. And that was such a joyful discovery on my part that it has dispelled these feelings of "what is this all for?" that had crept in these past weeks.
Oh, Val. Those feelings are so hard. Could you try writing solely for yourself? Like, writing what you want to read and hear? That way, the outside validation is a cherry on top—not the main goal. It's a subtle shift, but an important one.
Also, keep at it! With so many writing endeavors, especially in the crowded world of newsletters, consistency is key. You will see slow and steady progress, I promise! xo
Thanks so much Katie 🙂 that's good advice and I appreciate the encouragement! I'll keep at it. 💪 And that's a great way to think about writing: to write what I want to read. I'll see if I can make that mental shift so it gets easier!
Love this, especially the bit about ignoring the “should”s. I’m trying to eliminate those from my life so I’m less bogged down--but it’s a lot harder than it sounds. I hope the spark comes back soon!
It *is* so much harder than it sounds. Thanks, Ashley!
Good luck rediscovering that spark. I’m 2 weeks into The Artist’s Way myself, doing it with a few of the dads in TNF community. It’s been enlightening to interrogate some of those thought processes and see the negative barriers hidden underneath.
Oh that’s wonderful that you’re doing it with a group! What a great idea.
It’s been great to compare notes, see how different people are navigating it.
Great newsletter. My writing's are different than yours but I can understand the writer's block. And your right that we have inspiration and available storylines everywhere. We just need to keep our eyes and ears open and soak it all up.
Thanks, Pennie!